In the early 2000\u2019s, Yes seemed to be in healthy shape. All the members generally considered to be part of the band\u2019s \u201cclassic\u201d lineup were touring together and making great music. It looked as if the band with one of the most convoluted histories in rock would spend the twilight years of its career in quiet dignity, putting out solid albums and touring on the strength of its many past successes. Fast forward a decade and oh, how things have changed! Geoff Downes, formerly of The Buggles and Asia, has returned to assume the keyboard position he left behind in 1981, and longtime vocalist Jon Anderson has been given the boot and replaced by one Benoit David, formerly of…wait for it…Yes tribute bands. So to summarize: after the relative normalcy the band experienced in the late \u201890s and early \u201800s, Yes is back in crazy-land.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, David does a fine job singing, sounding somewhat like Horn but with an overall lower tone. He\u2019s not a particularly charismatic singer but then, neither was Anderson. His voice fits into the mix just fine and it\u2019s hard for me to imagine anybody, aside from hardcore Anderson purists, getting very upset with his work here. Especially with Yes\u2019s trademark vocal harmonies all over the place sounding as good as they ever have. Chris Squire in particular is in great vocal form, coming through loud and clear on his parts, and his bass sound remains as distinctive as it\u2019s always been. Steve Howe\u2019s guitar playing is very restrained throughout focusing on solid leads and acoustic chording, eschewing wild solos and technically challenging displays.<\/p>\n
For the production of their first album in ten years Yes turned to their one-time frontman, three-time producer and \u2013 in Downes\u2019 case \u2013 fellow ex-Buggle Trevor Horn. His production here is squeaky clean but not quite as glossy as many of Yes\u2019s \u201880s and \u201890s albums, so it makes for a good fit. However, Horn\u2019s presence on this record is that of far more than just that of producer; he has contributed both vocally and instrumentally, and (along with Downes) is responsible for the bulk of the album\u2019s songwriting. Due to their haphazard recent history, the band was largely at a loss for new material so they went back and grabbed a few old songs that Yes and The Buggles had worked on but never completed to their satisfaction. The song that has now become the title track of this album has been expanded and reworked so much that at nearly 24 minutes, it\u2019s become the longest song Yes has ever done! <\/p>\n
Unlike Yes\u2019s past epics, which tended to take their time and develop gradually throughout, \u201cFly From Here\u201d is very sectional. Each part could be taken more or less on its own without really losing much outside of its context. Catchy choruses abound and they never stay on one idea longer than necessary. I\u2019d venture to say that in spite of its length, \u201cFly From Here\u201d might just be Yes\u2019s most accessible epic. The downside of this approach is that the piece as a whole largely loses cohesiveness, which was a big part of what made Yes\u2019s extended compositions so strong and unique in the past. Anybody can medley a bunch of different songs together and call it an epic. Nevertheless, these songs are pretty good, so I\u2019ll gladly accept it for what it is.<\/p>\n
Most of the album\u2019s weaker moments can be found in the second half. Squire\u2019s main contribution and vocal showcase \u201cThe Man You Always Wanted Me To Be\u201d is decent, albeit a little cheesy, Howe\u2019s solo guitar excursion \u201cSolitaire\u201d recalls \u201cMood For A Day\u201d in places, but on the whole is rather boring, and \u201cHour Of Need\u201d seems nice but feels a little underdeveloped. None of these tracks are bad, just unremarkable. Thankfully, side two has two major highlights: the former Buggles demo \u201cLife On A Film Set,\u201d and the only completely new group composition, \u201cInto The Storm.\u201d The former builds from a pensive intro to a thrilling acoustic guitar driven middle into a rousing finale, and the latter is a great ensemble number featuring a nice riff and memorable group harmonies in the verses. <\/p>\n
For the umpteenth time, Yes has persevered through radical changes and kept on going. Fly From Here<\/i> isn\u2019t a return to their \u201870s heyday, but it is nevertheless an excellent addition to their later catalog. Fans of Trevor Horn\u2019s production and songwriting or Yes\u2019s other recent albums such as The Ladder<\/i> or Magnification<\/i> should find much to like here as well. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":30710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5713],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-42383","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-yes","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42383"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42383"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}